


Coming Home

by finwritesthings



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Gift Fic, I'm Sorry, M/M, Minor Character Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Valentine's Day, but can be read as just friendship, shklance if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 12:52:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9727649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finwritesthings/pseuds/finwritesthings
Summary: The Paladins return to Earth after defeating Zarkon. A year later and Lance has to learn to cope.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my gift for the lovely http://lovecinnatwist.tumblr.com/ on Tumblr for the Voltron Secret Valentine's! Happy Valentine's Day! I'm sorry there's so much angst, I didn't mean to hurt Lance this much... He deserves happiness...  
> I promise the next 2 (potentially 3) chapters that I'll be posting aren't as bad (chapter 2 is slightly angsty but not as much as this one).  
> As I said in the tags there could potentially be Shiro/Keith/Lance if you read their interactions in a romantic context, but you can also just read it in a non-committed, platonic context if you want. I left it sort of open because no matter how Shiro actually feels about either of them, I personally think after everything he's been through it would take a long time for him to be ready to be in a committed relationship.
> 
> And for those who are interested, here is a link to my playlist for this fic:  
> http://8tracks.com/finn8263/coming-home-fic-playlist

Lance stands with his hands shoved into his pockets and his shoulders hunched up to his ears. The cold February wind swirls around him, stirring up what snow hasn’t been packed down by people walking across it. His eyes water as he keeps his eyes forward, whether it’s because of the wind or the pain in his chest he isn’t really sure. He hears Keith shift next to him, blowing on his hands to warm them up. Without saying a word he pulls Keith behind himself, twists his fingers through Keith's own, and slides both their hands into his pockets. Lance can feel Keith stiffen for a second before leaning forwards into him, his chin resting on Lance’s shoulder.

 

“I know you’re all about the angsty teen look, but you should really invest in some gloves with fingers.” Lance’s voice is thick as he speaks, but Keith ignores that in favour of picking up on their favourite pastime.

 

“Says you, you’re not wearing any gloves. And don’t act like your hands aren’t cold. I’m holding them right now so I can say for a fact that your hands are freezing.”

Lance opens his mouth to respond, wanting to make a comment about how Keith openly admitted they were holding hands, but the words stick in his throat, like cotton slowly expanding. He takes a shuddering breath as he tucks his chin into his chest, lip caught between his teeth. He feels Keith’s hands squeeze his, and his own grip tightens in response. A soft sound escapes his throat as the tears slowly begin to fall. He’d hoped it would be easier to be here now, since it had been a year since he found out, but it hurt just as much as their first day back. Lance squeezes his eyes closed as he tries to get his breathing back under control, focusing on the steady rhythm of the breath puffing out against his cheek and the warmth at his back.

~

 

 _Lance was the first off the ship when they landed, Hunk and Pidge right behind him. His heart hammered in his chest as his boots hit the ground,_ Earth’s ground _, for the first time in so very long. He wasn’t entirely sure where they had landed. he remembers Coran saying something about it being a remote location, so they could contact the inhabitants of the planet and assure them they were peaceful. Lance really couldn’t bring himself to care where they’d landed though. After travelling through galaxies millions of light years away from Earth, the distance from one part of the planet to another suddenly seemed so much smaller._

 

_It began to rain._

 

_Lance’s shoulders shook and his face was soon streaked with water and tears. He grinned over at Hunk when he stepped up next to him._

 

_“We’re home.”_

 

_Most of the following events were a blur to Lance, almost entirely consisting of all the official business they needed to take care of. Turns out that after awaking the Blue Lion and flying on out of the solar system, humanity had had a few more run-ins with aliens, and had been forced to realise and accept their existence. This made Allura and Coran’s lives a lot easier, as well as speeding up the process. Lance had spent most of the whole ordeal squished between Keith and Pidge on a couch in the lounge, his leg shaking the entire time. Shiro had gone to help Allura with the legalities and Hunk was helping Coran explain the mechanics of the ship. It had originally been Pidge, but after Pidge essentially insulted the intelligence of the entire team of world-class mechanics, engineers, and other technical science people, Shiro had asked that Hunk helped instead. The three of them sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the day._

 

_They had decided to wait until the next day before going to see their families so they could be fully rested and have the full day to spend with them. Despite that being what they’d all agreed on, Lance had heard Pidge and Matt talking about their mum when he walked past their door, stopped to watch Hunk work on Yellow as he spoke about his own family, and finally found Shiro and Keith in the observatory._

 

_“What happened to that big dad speech of yours about how we all needed to get a good night's rest for our big day tomorrow?” Lance leant against the door as he watched Keith and Shiro turn towards him, smiling fondly at them._

 

_Shiro chuckled as he responded, “I suppose that was just from habit. I had a feeling no one would be getting much sleep tonight. I will admit I’m a little surprised to see you, of all people, wandering the castle. Don’t you need your beauty sleep?”_

 

_Lance ignored Keith’s snort of amusement in favour of placing a hand dramatically over his heart as he gasped, “Shiro! How could you tease me like this? You’re starting to sound like Keith!”_

 

_Lance’s chest felt warm as he watched Shiro and Keith laugh. Everything seeming fuzzy and bright. He still couldn’t believe this was real, that he could stand here with people he’d fought alongside, people he’d risked his life for and who had risked their lives for him, and laugh without the worry of another threat waiting around every corner. That in the morning they’d be travelling to see their families, to start rebuilding their lives. It also scared him. Lance didn’t know where he wanted to go from here. Despite having travelled through galaxies, being a part of Voltron didn’t really leave time for ‘what comes after’. He knew he was done piloting, nothing else would be like piloting Blue. So, what did come next?_

 

_“Are you nervous? To see your family that is.” Shiro’s smile was soft as he looked at Lance, and Lance felt his nerves melting away as he stepped up next to Shiro and Keith._

 

_“A little. Oh wow, I can’t wait to see how much my little siblings have grown. Sophia’s probably graduated and is some big artist now, man she’s gonna be so mad at me for missing that.” Lance’s smile was a little strained as he thought of how much he’d missed._

 

_Keith’s hand was warm against Lance’s own when he curled their fingers around each other._

 

_“You don’t have to do it alone.”_

 

_“I know.” Lance squeezed Keith’s hand as he leant against his shoulder, letting out a breath._

_“They’re gonna love you. But watch out for the younger ones, as soon as they see how long your hair is they’ll all be begging to braid it and what not.”_

 

_Lance felt Keith’s laugh puff against his cheek._

 

_The three of them continued to stand there in comfortable silence for a while longer, enjoying one of the few quiet moments they’d be able to have together for quite some time. Shiro was the first to leave, his arm glinting in the low light as he stretched. Lance often wondered if he had any sort of planned response for when people were bound to ask about it. Shiro smiled at the two of them as he turned to leave, and Lance was able to get a good look at the dark bags under Shiro’s eyes._

 

_He waited until he was sure Shiro was out of earshot before turning to Keith, “He hasn’t been sleeping well has he.” It wasn’t a question._

 

_“No, but have any of us? I mean, we’re home, so we should be happy right? But what do we do now? We made our lives about piloting Voltron, we were literally ready to die for this, and now it’s just over? And we’re supposed to go back to normal?” Keith’s face was twisted with frustration as stared out the observatory window, huffing out his breath. It was a little weird hearing Keith say what Lance had been worrying over, but he’s always been rather blunt._

 

_Lance found himself at a loss for words: he didn’t know what to say to Keith, but then again, it didn’t really seem like Keith was expecting an answer._

 

_The two of them had stood there for a while longer, not speaking as their own thoughts took them places far away from the castle ship observatory. Eventually, Lance felt himself tugging Keith out of the observatory, down the halls and to his own room. Keith didn’t protest. He simply waited for Lance to get into bed before crawling in next to him. They curled around each other, hands twisting into shirts, legs tangling together._

 

_Lance found his sleep fitful at best, Keith fared no better._

 

_The next morning was a mess, in gentlest terms. Pidge and Matt had overslept, by a lot. Hunk had made four trips to the bathroom before deciding to just stay there until he was able to calm his anxiety - Lance had offered to sit with him but Hunk had just wanted some time alone. Allura and Coran were nowhere to be found for the longest of time. Keith had gone to train, ‘Just in case’ he had said, but Lance knew he was just trying to work out some of the nerves. Shiro had tried to organise everyone, but had eventually just decided to wait until some of the chaos calmed, situating himself in the lounge with a cup of coffee; they had brought back a few things to the castle ship with them, and one of the things Shiro had brought back had been coffee. That was how Lance had found himself sitting next to Shiro as he watched Pidge chase Matt through one door of the lounge and out another due to stealing their favourite shirt or something like that. Shiro wordlessly offered his coffee to Lance. Lance took a sip, crinkling his nose as he found Shiro drank his coffee black: Lance was much more of a copious amount of milk kind of guy, but he appreciated the caffeine nonetheless._

 

_Eventually, the others started to trickle into the lounge: Pidge first - wearing the shirt Lance was sure Matt had been wearing not long before - soon followed by Hunk who seemed to be doing much better now, then Keith, and finally Allura and Coran. They were all here, and Lance felt the pit in his stomach grow as Keith’s squeezed his hand from his place next to him._

 

_Allura cleared her throat as she stood a little straighter, looking over each of them from where she stood next to Coran. She nodded, more to herself than anything else, before taking a deep breath, “Well Paladins, and Matt” she smiled teasingly at him, “It would seem you are all ready to head out and see those who have been waiting for you here during your time as part of the war. I would personally like to thank each and every one of you for what you have done, and what you have sacrificed, to end a war that wasn’t even your own. I couldn’t, and wouldn’t have asked for anyone else to have piloted the Lions of Voltron for our war against Zarkon. You have done the universe a great service. But now we must part ways. You are returning home, and Coran and I will be continuing to spread peace and alliances throughout the galaxies. It has been of utmost pleasure to work with you.”_

 

_Coran sniffed before raising a finger, “I, too, would like to give you youngsters a parting speech! It has been wonderful working with all of you, and I believe that if King Alfor were here he would say that there is no one else more suited for piloting Voltron and that he couldn’t be more proud of all of you.”_

 

_Coran took a moment to look at all of them, starting with Allura and stopping at Keith, keeping eye contact a second longer to convey his meaning. “And I wholeheartedly agree! You have made this much more enjoyable as well, it has been my greatest honour to fight with you.” With a hand held his heart Coran gave a firm nod, a sad smile on his lips._

 

_Lance was the first to move, standing and wrapping his arms tightly around Coran’s shoulders, tears spilling down his cheeks. He tried to speak but his voice broke and no words came out. He just squeezed Coran tighter. Soon the others were standing, pulling Allura and Coran - once Lance had let him go - into hugs of their own. Lance got lost in the hugs and the tears and quiet goodbyes, trying to memorise the moment as best he can._

 

_Lance slid onto the back of Keith’s motorcycle - Keith had brought it back a few days earlier, surprising absolutely no one with the fact that he owned one - his eyes still burning. After he had finished saying his goodbyes he had rushed out of the ship, his chest feeling as if it was about to collapse in on itself. He looked over his shoulder at where Allura and Coran stood waving everyone off as he pulled on the helmet Keith had handed to him. He lifted his hand to wave at them, seeing Keith do the same out of his peripheral vision. They waved back and then Keith was telling him to hold on as he started up the bike. Keith didn’t say anything as Lance shook against his back as they rocketed away from Allura, Coran, Voltron, and an entire life the team had built together._

 

_Lance wasn’t entirely aware of what route they took or how long it took them: too busy sorting through the clashing thoughts in his head of his team and his family. They were both so important to him. He’d risked his life for them, would do it in a heartbeat even now, and his team had done the same for him. They had all been through so much together, supporting each other, working together, fighting with and for each other. Lance loved them all, but he loved his family too. He had missed his family every minute they’d been battling Zarkon. He had just wanted to go home. Now that he was, he realised how hard it was to say goodbye._

 

_Lance was startled out of his thoughts when Keith came to a stop and turned off the bike, “We’re here.”_

 

_Lance’s legs felt stiff with every step he took towards his front door. His fingers shook at his sides, his chest ached with wounds long gone unattended. Wounds made from distance and words he could never say to the people who needed to hear them most. He felt Keith’s hand grip his, the gesture grounding him. They stood quietly on Lance’s front step, staring at the door before them. Lance looked at Keith, who gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, before turning back to the door and knocking._

 

_The door swung wide as a short woman with Lance’s brown hair and tan skin stood shouting over her shoulder at the young kids running by behind her. She turned, a polite smile gracing her features as she looked at them, but it soon fell away when her eyes landed on Lance. The tears were almost immediate and Lance’s own soon followed. He released Keith’s hand to step into his mother’s arms. Her sobs were loud and shook her body as they slid to the ground, arms wound tight around each other. Lance could hear his name being sobbed into his shoulder, but everything else was lost in the words his own apologies. He wasn’t aware of the time passing as they sat there in the front doorway, or as his siblings gathered in the front hall looking between Lance and his mother and Keith. They sat there until their chests stopped heaving and the February winds began to get the best of them. Until their heads cleared and they could see again, until Lance could finally let go after not being able to hug his mother for so long. As they stood, her hands traced his face and shoulders, muttering to herself as if he’d slip through her hands like sand. He stood there and let her assure herself that he was real and home and not going anywhere._

 

_When she did finally speak, they were not the words Lance had thought he would ever hear in this moment. “I wish your father could have been here to see you come home.”_

 

_Lance felt his world shatter._

 

_Lance felt like he wasn’t really there, like he was watching everything unfold from somewhere outside his own body. His mother ushered he and Keith inside, sitting them on the couch before going to get everyone something to eat while they spoke - she could be heard crying from the kitchen. Sophia explained to them what had happened to Lance’s father, the kids all crowding around Lance in various states of shock, happiness, and anger. Apparently, his father had been wracked with grief after Lance had gone missing - everyone had been - and so he had done everything in his power to make sure Lance was found. He had argued with the Garrison almost every day, demanded they put more effort into finding the missing kids. He had gone to the base every week to make his point known. Until one day, an alien ship crash landed on Earth. It was Galran. Lance’s father hadn’t known that at the time and had gone to the crash site to see if it was any kind of lead. The Garrison had, of course, tried to stop him but he’d managed to slip past, and when he got close enough, the ship opened up. The Galra inside were not from the resistance. It was just a small ship, one that had been shot down and had crashed on Earth. Their defences were already down, making it easy for the Garrison to overcome them. But not before they had shot Lance’s father._

 

_Lance was distantly aware of the fact that he was crying again, that some of his siblings were yelling: blaming him for what happened. His mother had come back and was trying to defuse the situation, reprimanding the kids that it wasn’t Lance’s fault; Lance couldn’t have disagreed with her more. He turned himself towards Keith, burying his face in Keith’s shoulder as Keith wrapped his arms around Lance. Everyone was quiet as Lance shook in Keith’s arms, muttering it was his fault, Keith held him tighter. Lance stayed like that for quite some time._

 

_Keith took on explaining where they had been and what had been going on. He didn’t go into detail about the war and the things they’d been through, but he made sure they were all well aware of the fact that they had been fighting a war that decided the fate of the whole universe, looking at those who had been yelling at Lance when he said so. During that time Lance had shifted in Keith’s arms to look at his family, taking the time to memorise each and every one of their faces. They had changed, grown, but they were all still his family. He caught Sophia’s gaze, and she reached out her hand, taking one of Lance’s own into her grasp. He twined his fingers with hers, smiling down at their hands tiredly._

 

_It was getting dark by the time Keith finished and Lance’s mother demanded they stayed the night. Neither of them could say no. Dinner was a much quieter affair than what Lance was used to, but at least he was home. Any time the weight in his chest felt like too much he would drop his hand under the table, Keith’s hand always meeting him there. Once everyone was done, Lance and Keith automatically began gathering plates, so used to doing it with the team to avoid Shiro’s renowned ‘after dinner talks’. No one commented on it, letting the two of them quietly take the plates to the kitchen and clean them off. Keith washed and Lance dried, their hands brushing with each dish. It was a methodical, mindless process, allowing Lance to slowly unwind. Keith watched as the tension slowly began to leak out of Lance, starting with the lowering of his shoulders, moving to his spine as he stood less rigidly, to his arms which became less stiff in their movements, and finally his face, relaxing, the creases slowly easing away. Without thinking, Keith leant over and pressed his lips to the slight downward turn of the corner of Lance’s mouth. Lance looked up in shock as Keith pulled away, his own surprise evident on his face. Lance let a breathy laugh, shaking his head with a fond expression on his face because of course Keith didn’t think about that before doing so._

 

_“Do you have impulse control, Mullet?”_

 

_“One, I was hoping that nickname would die when we started dating - though I really shouldn’t have expected anything less from you - and two, just because I kissed you on instinct does not mean that is an indicator of my self-control. Maybe it’s just instinct to kiss you!”_

 

_“Dude. That’s gay.” Lance laughed as Keith glared at him. His laughter soon died down as he braced his hands against the counter._

 

_“It’s my fault. He would still be alive if I hadn’t gone missing without a trace. Keith, it’s my fault.”_

 

_“It’s not your fault Lance. Blue chose you, and then we had to go. It’s not like we’ve been resting on some beach in the Bahamas or something, we were fighting a war. One that would have killed a whole lot more people if we hadn’t fought it. Lance, this wasn’t your fault. He made those decisions on his own. You are not to blame. Voltron needed you, the team needed you. Don’t put this on yourself for something you couldn’t control.” Keith had turned Lance to face him, his hands gripping his shoulder. Keith pressed his forehead to Lance’s, their breath mingling in the space they shared._

 

_“It’s not your fault.”_

 

~

 

A year later and Lance still couldn’t make himself look at his father’s gravestone.


End file.
